The Sorcerer Chamber
by That-is-illogical
Summary: There was a reason that part of the castle was sealed. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

"Why are we down here again?" asked Merlin, for the third time that hour.

"Because, Merlin, I haven't been down here since I was a child. I barely remember these parts of the castle. As king, I should know Camelot like the back of my hand."

"Well then, why am I down here then? Are you scared?" teased the manservant. For that, he received a slap on the head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Merlin, stopping to massage the back of head.

"Well, if you're not scared, you can make your way back. Without a torch," said Arthur, walking further into the passageway. Merlin peered over his shoulder at the way back. Well, the encroaching blackness that grew larger as Arthur moved away.

* * *

"So you've decided to join me? How nice." Merlin rolled his eyes at the king's sarcasm and looked around cautiously at the hallway. The place unsettled him for unknown reasons.

"So what's down here then?"

"I honestly don't know. Father sealed this part of the castle after The Great Purge. He said he had no use for it anymore, now that most of the sorcerers had been flushed out." Despite this unhelpful answer, Merlin became more unsettled at the mention of The Great Purge.

"Sire?"

"Huh?"

"You've been on edge since we started, and have been getting progressively worse."

"What? No. I'm fine," said Arthur, "Just a strange feeling about this place, that's all."

"Are you scared? I don't need the king of Camelot paralysed with fear at the sound of rat now do I?"

"I am NOT scared," spoke Arthur indignantly.

"Yeah, you are," retorted Merlin.

"I am n-" Arthur petered out, the last word caught his throat as they came to a stop in front of a large black door.

* * *

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Arthur kept staring at the door, an uncontrollable shiver taking hold of his body.

"... I'll take that as a no." Shaking his head, Merlin opened the door, swinging it forward to connect with Arthur. Hard. The king jumped.

"Argh," grunted Arthur, composing himself , "You idiot. I'll have you polishing the silverware tonight."

"It's worth it, just to see your face," teased Merlin.

Arthur shot him a scathing look and shoved him into the room, following cautiously after.

"There, look, we went in. Now, let's go-there's plenty more down here. I think." Arthur turned around, heading out to leave.

"I said, let's go... Merlin?"

The manservant was clutching his ears and shaking his head, clearly agitated.

"What the hell Merlin?"

"Can't you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"That noise."

"What noise? You could hear a pin drop in here. Seriously Merlin, get a grip."

But Merlin could indeed hear a noise. An agonising scream bore into ears. His attempts to shut it out, useless.

"You must be deaf, you clotpole."

As Merlin sunk to his knees in pain, Arthur received a vivid flashback to when he had last step foot in this room.

"Help," pleaded Merlin, "please."

"No," murmured Arthur, "no."

"... Arthur..." murmured Merlin, falling into unconsciousness.

Arthur backed away from Merlin, sliding down the nearest wall into a seated position, remembering everything about the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Flashback tiiime. (Also thank you for all those reviews. Wow. I won't disappoint, seeing as I basically have all of it written out.)**

* * *

_"See this, Arthur. This, was my greatest step in ridding the kingdom of sorcerers," said Uther, gesturing the large room in front of him._

_Arthur, who was only young, was scared, tired, hungry and didn't particularly feel like investigating the big black door._

_Seeing the frightened look on his son's face, said "Chin up, boy. There's nothing scary about the Sorcerer Chamber. It's all in your mind. You have nothing to fear. It's the sorcerers who should be scared. I'll show you." Gesturing to the guards, Uther smiled smugly as three women were escorted into the room._

_"What's happening?" asked Arthur, wondering why two of the kitchen maids and his nurse maid were down here. As the door closed behind them, a scream emanated from the room. _

_"Excellent. Guards, open the door!"_

_Behind the door, the two kitchen maids look bewildered as the third woman lay on the floor, her hands covering her ears._

_"Lock her away. The execution will be at dawn. The others are free to go."_

_As the sobbing nurse maid was dragged away by the knights, Arthur looked up at his father, even more confused and frightened._

_"Where is 'Lizbeth goin'?" the child whispered._

_"She is a sorcerer. She is being taken to the dungeons to be burnt at the stake tomorrow," Uther stated. There were tears in Arthur's eyes._

_"She was a nice lady. I liked her," he whimpered._

_"Well, she was a witch."_

_"She don' act like a witch."_

_"Therein lies the beauty of this room. Practitioners of magic are deceitful beings, as proved here, and will try to even infiltrate Camelot itself. This room lays bare their deception. Only those with magic are able to hear the scream of the mandrake, making it easy to weed out the filth." _

_While Uther stood proudly admiring his creation, Arthur squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the screams of his former nurse maid._


	3. Chapter 3

Resurfacing from his memory, Arthur stared blankly at his manservant.

Merlin had magic.

This idiot was a sorcerer.

His friend had lied to him all these years, practising magic.

Had he?

Maybe Merlin was just being Merlin. He knew Arthur was spooked by this place. Maybe he was jesting, to get back at the silverware threat. Arthur would surely make him regret it.

Just then, blood started dripping out of Merlin's ears.

There was no way this was a prank.

But, thought Arthur, just because he had magic, didn't mean he was a sorcerer per se.

Right? He could just have it and not use it.

There was no way he was sorcerer.

This explanation was enough for Arthur, leaping into action and picking Merlin up, ignoring how light his manservant was and the blood cascading down his shirt.

* * *

"Sire? Merlin!"

"No time to explain, Gwaine, help me get him to Gaius."

The knight made no hesitation to help the king get his friend the help he obviously needed.

"Sire?"

"Not now, Gwaine."

"But-"

"I said, not now." Seeing the pained look in Arthur's eyes shut him up fast. Something had gone wrong. Very wrong.

"Thank you. That will be all," said Arthur briskly, hefting Merlin away from Gwaine as they arrived outside Gaius's door.

Gwaine opened his mouth to protest but Arthur cut him down. "Do not disturb us. At all."

* * *

Shutting the door behind them, Arthur was greeted by an extremely concerned Gaius.

"Merlin?" he asked, almost running to get to his ward. "What happened sire?"

Arthur placed Merlin down on the bed and dropped into the seat beside. He looked up at Gaius with a pained expression. "The Sorcerer Chamber," he said simply, causing Gaius to pale. Seeing this expression, Arthur got up and began to question Gaius, who busied himself in some old tomes.

"You knew?" Arthur pressed. "All this time?"

Arthur placed a hand on the old physician. "Gaius?"

"He only has magic, right? He's not a," Arthur paused before speaking that dreaded word, "sorcerer?" There was no way that idiot was a sorcerer. He had magic, that's all, just a little bit. Like the druids. Like his nurse maid. Repeating this to himself mentally as he carried his friend to aid, he was almost convinced that Merlin himself had told him.

Gaius sighed and turned to face the king.

"He has only done it for the benefit of you and Camelot. Please, he's a good man."

Arthur had to sit down again.

There was no denying it now.

Merlin was a sorcerer.

* * *

He honestly didn't know what to think.

On one hand, his 'friend' had lied to him for all these years, practising a banned art behind his back that went against everything he had been taught.

Against that, Gaius had said he was good?

In all seriousness, Arthur knew Merlin. He was loyal, compassionate and essentially good.

It was just so jarring to what he knew about magic and those who wielded it.

Lost in this internal struggle, he barely noticed Gaius coming to sit beside him after administrating a potion to Merlin.

"Please sire, I know what you must be thinking. Everything you have been taught has said that practitioners of magic are evil. This isn't true, but despite that, Merlin didn't have a choice. He was born with it."

"What?" Arthur interjected.

"Yes, and for that he is powerful. Prophesied to be the most powerful warlock to ever live. And to help the Once and Future King to unite all the lands of Albion under peace."

"You don't mean...?"

"Yes, Arthur, it means you. Merlin has done everything to protect you and Camelot. How do you think you have survived so many encounters with magic?"

"Tell me everything," demanded Arthur. He had to get all the facts to quell the uncertainty in his mind. Gaius sighed, he felt guilty for telling Arthur this. Merlin should have been the one to tell his friend.

* * *

So on Gaius went, telling the king of all the times his manservant had wielded supposedly evil magic for the most good of intentions. He spoke of the very first time Merlin had saved his life, through the Afanc, Sigan, Morgana, Morgause and countless other evil creatures and enemies, and of the people he had saved (other than Arthur) and peace that had arisen through Merlin. Arthur sat there, dumbfounded, only speaking occasionally to ask for clarification. Other than that, he sat there in silent awe of the unconscious man beside him.

Gauis had only reached the point where his Merlin had thrown Excalibur into the Lake of Avalon when the warlock began to regain consciousness.

The physician halted his tale and moved over to the groaning Merlin. "I have said too much. He should be the one to tell you."

"There's more?" Gaius smiled knowingly.

"A lot more."

"Arthur...?" murmured Merlin, his eyes fluttering as he struggled to open them. He slowly lifted himself up on his elbows. Boy did his head hurt.

"Well, I see our resident warlock has returned to the land of living. How does the title of Court Sorcerer sound to you?"

Merlin promptly fell out of the bed.

* * *

**Epilogue coming up soon.**


	4. Epilogue

**Woo, epilogue.**

* * *

"W-what?" Merlin rubbed his head. Was this a dream?

"You know, for someone who is supposedly the most powerful sorcerer to ever live, you sure are clumsy." Merlin looked at Gaius, eyebrows threatening to disappear into his hairline, who chuckled at his ward's confusion.

"You-You know... about... my magic?" Merlin sat there in shock, pain forgotten. "How?"

Gaius took over, having more knowledge about the room.

"Well, Merlin, that room you and Arthur went down to earlier today. It was Uther's pride and joy-The Sorcerer Chamber. Herds of suspects were taken down there during the Great Purge. Sorcerers were singled out due to the fact that they were affected by the mandrake root," Merlin shuddered at the mention of the plant, Gaius continued, "Whereas non-magic people were only affected subconsciously, feeling ill ease."

"See, Merlin, I was _not_ scared," Arthur joked, but Merlin merely nodded. "Seriously Merlin, lighten up. I've heard of the things you have done to save me, and apparently I haven't even heard the half of it. As much I dislike your mistrust in me, I accept you."

This obviously seemed like too much to take in for Merlin as he curled up in a ball. Arthur made his way over, seeing Merlin in pain and helping him. As he placed his hands on his manservant's shoulders, he noticed they were shaking.

"Merlin?" he asked with concern.

Turning to Arthur, Merlin had tears streaming down his cheeks. However, he was smiling.

"Why are you crying? And smiling?"

"You have no idea how much I have wanted to hear those words. I-I never thought it would happen like this and I'm just so glad. So very glad."

"C'mere," said Arthur, embracing Merlin."You know of course you have to tell me everything," said Arthur.

"Of course. How much have you heard?" replied Merlin, propping himself up on the bed, while Arthur got comfortable on the stool beside.

"Well-"

* * *

At that moment, a loud banging sound resulting from one man leaning too heavily on the old door and was now sprawled on the floor.

"Gwaine?" exclaimed Merlin, Arthur and Gaius simultaneously.

"You, er, may want to fix your lock there, Gaius. Though Merlin would be able to fix it up with a snap of his fingers, eh?"

The warlock paled.

"Don't worry mate, your secret's safe with me. Suspected there was something magical about you, though definitely not the 'Most-poweful-sorcerer-ever-lived' thing."

"You heard?" asked Arthur indignantly.

"Everything. Figured something was seriously up. Had to know what was going on. I also made sure no one else walked in. You can thank me now," said Gwaine, standing up with a flourish. Merlin smiled and nodded his head as his eyes glowed gold, and spoke, "_Ni fydd unrhyw un yn clywed y tu allan i'r ystafell_," as the door shut and a muffled silence fell over the room.

Arthur and Gwaine flinched as the door shut, but did not take their eyes off the young man whose eyes were fading quickly back to blue and were afraid to meet the others'.

"I, um, did a silence spell. So no one can eavesdrop... Yeah," said Merlin nervously. this was the first time he had performed magic in front of Arthur. And Gwaine. It was a strange experience. One he was sure would take a long time to get used to.

"So, Merlin, you were going to tell Arthur how many times you've saved his royal ass?" Arthur shot a glare at Gwaine before returning his attention to Merlin. He was looking forward to this tale.

"Oh, and one last thing Merlin," interrupted Gwaine, as the warlock opened his mouth to start.

"Yes, Gwaine?"

"You don't suppose you could magic me up some ale?"

* * *

**And done. Thanks guys for reading/reviewing.**


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